(MONTGOMERY) — Attorney General Steve Marshall announced the sentencing of Greg Renard Wynn for the brutal murder of a Hardees restaurant manager in Anniston in 1998.

Wynn was originally sentenced to death in 1999 by then-Circuit Judge Samuel Monk after a jury unanimously recommended that sentence. He was 17 years old at the time of the offense.

Following decisions by the United States Supreme Court holding that the death penalty and mandatory life without parole sentences for juveniles is unconstitutional, Wynn returned to the Calhoun County Circuit Court for a sentencing hearing to determine whether he should be sentenced to life in prison, either with or without the possibility of parole.

After a three-day hearing, Circuit Judge Brian Howell sentenced Wynn to life without the possibility of parole on February 27, 2020. In his written order, Judge Howell noted that Wynn’s crime was “one of the most horrific crime scenes” he had ever seen, echoing similar comments made in 1999 by the original trial judge.

In addition to the heinous, atrocious, and cruel nature of the offense, Judge Howell also relied on evidence presented by the State that Wynn had multiple disciplinary infractions during his imprisonment, including possession of prison contraband, fighting, insubordination, and assault on correctional employees. Evidence also revealed that Wynn had maintained a social media account in violation of prison rules and had told a family member in November 2019 that he did not need rehabilitation.

“Greg Wynn beat his victim so severely that her body could not be identified by those who knew her,” stated Attorney General Steve Marshall. “The evidence presented by my office proved that Greg Wynn is an individual without empathy or remorse, someone who has not even begun the process of rehabilitation after spending two decades in prison. The sentence imposed was just and deserved.”

Attorney General Marshall thanked Assistant Attorneys General Polly Kenny and Christopher Reader of his Capital Litigation Division, Deputy Attorney General James R. Houts of his Special Prosecutions Division, and special agents of the Investigations Division of his office for their work on the case.

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